Abou El Fadl Research Articles

Khaled Abou El Fadl’s Understanding of Sharia in Theory and in Practice. A Critical Analysis

Khaled Abou El Fadl’s Understanding of Sharia in Theory and in Practice. A Critical Analysis

Kritik Interpretasi Otoritatif: Studi Hermeneutika Khaled M. Abou El-Fadl

Interpretation on the Qur’an has faced stagnation for using textual paradigm in exploring the meaning of the Qur’an. Since then, the developing social problems can’t find the solutions from the Qur’an, even those are forced to apply the meaning of the Qur’an interpreted in classical context. In contemporary era, there is shifting paradigm in interpretation, which is not merely focused on textual meaning, but has started to seek for textual meaning of the Qur’an by using hermeneutics. However, a number of theories on hermeneutics show their subjectivism in relation with the ideas developed by contemporary Muslim scholars. This comes from their distinguished social and intellectual conditions, especially their concern in looking at their surrounding condition. Most of scholars in hermeneutics offered new theories focused on method of interpretation. Here, Khaled M. Abou El Fadl, an exponent on hermeneutics, offered his hermeneutical thought in criticizing the concept of authority in interpreting the Qur’an. This study aims to explain the ideas of Khaled M. Abou El Fadl in Hermeneutics and Islamic Law, his social and intellectual context as the background of his idea.

Kajian Pendekatan Hermeneutika dalam Tafsir Al-Qur’an Perspektif Ulama Muslim Kontemporer

Hermeneutics of the Qur'an with its characters, namely Abu Zayd, Ali Harb, Arkoun, Hasan Hanafi, Syahrur, Khaled Abou el-Fadl, and Abdullah Saeed, has a hermeneutic method from the point of view of different theories and approaches. This paper aims to examine the study of the hermeneutics of the Qur'an from the perspective of contemporary scholars. The results of the study prove that the classical scholar's scholarship in the study of the Qur'anic science is different from the scientific method approach of contemporary scholars. This has implications for the civilizational culture of Tafsir Al-Qur'an. Therefore, this paper is very supportive to be used as a source of knowledge related to the study of the Qur'an.

PENAFSIRAN KONTEKSTUAL AL-QUR’AN: TELAAH ATAS PEMIKIRAN ABDULLAH SAEED

This article discusses Abdullah Saeed's thought on contextual exegesis of the Quran. The background of Abdullah Saeed's thought on the importance of conducting contextual exegesis was based on the solid domination of literal (textual) commentary of the Quran, particularly regarding ethics-legal verses. Based on Saeed's point of view, ethic-legal verses commentary must account for social changes to support the close relationship between Quran and the current Muslims. Several intellectual figures influenced Abdullah Saeed's thoughts related to contextual exegeses, such as Fazlur Rahman, Ghulam Ahmad Parvez, Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, Mohammed Arkoun, Farid Esack, and Khaled Abou El Fadl. The theoretical foundations of the Quran contextual exegesis proposed by Abdullah Saeed can be traced back through his notion on revelation concept, the flexibility of meaning, and text meaning as a commentary.

ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK OF ISLAMIC LAW. Edited by Khaled AbouEl Fadl, Ahmad AtifAhmad, Said FaresHassan. Oxon and New York: Routledge, 2019. Pp. 449. Cloth, $157.65, Paper, $52.95. N.p.

ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK OF ISLAMIC LAW. Edited by Khaled AbouEl Fadl, Ahmad AtifAhmad, Said FaresHassan. Oxon and New York: Routledge, 2019. Pp. 449. Cloth, $157.65, Paper, $52.95. N.p.

TEKS DAN DISKURSUS OTORITAS MENURUT KHALED M. ABOU EL-FADL

In it contains authoritative references in religious matters. Meanwhile, in Khaled's view, Islamic jurists are a source of legitimacy in interpreting religious texts. Khaled tried to criticize the construction of authoritarianism in Islamic law, especially regarding the criticism of the misogynistic fatwas issued by the Council for Scientific Research and Legal Opinion (CRLO) and The Society for Adherence to the Sunnah (SAS). In this article, this article analyzes and examines how Khaled M. Abou El-Fadl's ideas offer in matters of text and discourse of authority in Islamic studies, especially those related to the interpretation of religious texts, namely the Al-Quran and hadith. While the method used in this research is a qualitative method using a descriptive-analysis approach. From various facts and data obtained, then analyzed and narrated descriptively with reference to the focus of this study. Based on the research findings, it was found that religious texts should be able to be translated and read properly according to their context, especially the authority and authoritarianism inherent in Islamic studies.

Fostering Human Dignity and Freedom

At the beginning of Nostra aetate, the Church calls for mutual understanding with Muslims in the interests of “peace, liberty, social justice, and moral values.” This paper strives to achieve such an understanding in light of the fragile state of democracy in today’s world. The paper first presents the Church’s approach to democracy through an analysis of the work of the philosopher Jacques Maritain and the Second Vatican Council. It then presents representative views from Islam: the work of the Sunni legal scholar Khaled Abou El Fadl and the Shi’ite scholar Naser Ghobadzadeh. By appealing to the Jesuit scholarDavid Hollenbach’smethodology of “dialogic universalism,” the paper argues finally that there is a rich confluence between the two traditions: Their basic commitment to the dignity and freedom of the human person implies a respect for pluralism, a reverence for reason, and a call for self-transcendence, all of which can serve to enhance democracy.

Negotiative Hermeneutics of Khaled Abou El Fadl: Truth Postponement and Negotiating The Meaning of Text in Speaking In God's Name

This study aims to map the ontological and epistemological aspects of Negotiative Hermeneutics through a philosophical approach. Negotiative Hermeneutics is a new hermeneutic model initiated by Khaled Abou El Fadl to criticize gender-biased and misogyny fatwas issued by Al-Lajnah ad-Dā`imah li al-Buhūts al-'Ilmiyyah wa al-Iftā`, or the Fatwa Committee Saudi Arabia. Prioritizing texts understanding through a psychological, social context, and other perspective makes this model different from other hermeneutics. Negotiative Hermeneutics more focuses on the negotiation process for sustainable in the three pillars of hermeneutics: author, text, and reader. This iterative process on linguistic, cultural, etc. This study analyzed the weaknesses of the Negotiative Hermeneutics negotiation movement based on the misogyny fatwa case of the Saudi Arabian Fatwa Committee using the critical discourse analysis method. The results indicated that the text is ontologically sacred and authoritative; authorship of the Quran and the Prophet Sunnah stopped at the first author. The epistemological viewed meaning is obtained from endless negotiations among the three pillars of hermeneutics. The weakness is Khaled's disregard for the fact that the ulama's fatwa depends on royal authority. Last, the significance of this paper, especially regarding the shortcomings in Khaled's theory, is to present evidence that a fatwa produced by the ulama's ijtihad is not autonomous at all, even from the ulama itself, because it is also the result of a bargaining chip between ulama and the royal authority

Khaled Abou El Fadl and Amina Wadud’s (re)politicisation of the mosque and employment of social media as a means of shaping religious identity based on values of progressive Islam

This paper explores the employment of social media and Islamic religious sermons, as a means of dissemination of progressive Islam, in the process of shaping the religious identities of Muslims in the twenty-first century. This research is a case study that focusses on Khaled Abou El Fadl, a prominent progressive Muslim scholar, and his political activism in the mosque in the form of khutbahs (sermons). The presentation of the importance and development of the mosque from solely a place of worship to a place of political mobilisation creates a historical framework necessary for the understanding and evaluation of the case study. Amina Wadud’s activism in the mosque, and the way this activism is presented on the social media, is used as a means of comparison of the effectiveness of both scholars’ efforts. Given that the main channels of communication for both these scholars are social media, the paper presents the main points of the way the internet has affected notions of authority and knowledge in Islam in the twenty-first century C.E. The existing literature regarding Islam and social media focuses heavily on radicalisation and promotion of conservative Islam. There is an absence of scholarly work regarding social media and progressive Islam, and this article attempts to fill this gap in academia. The research included in this article was carried out in London, between June and September 2019, and is based on heterogeneous sources available online, such as newspaper and journal articles, audio-visual material, social media content and academic publications. It presents and analyses the media content and evolution of the said khutbahs as recorded and published on YouTube. It also evaluates their impact on the target audience through observation of the comments available on YouTube and Abou El Fadl’s relevant references in the videos.

TINJAUAN DEKONSTRUKTIF ATAS KONSEP OTORITAS KHALED M. ABOU EL-FADL

This article discusses a deconstructive review of the concept of authority of Khaled M. Abou el-Fadl. The phenomenon of authoritarianism is now the most troubling phenomenon for the development of contemporary Islamic thought. This phenomenon not only describes a rigid and undeveloped tradition of Islamic thought, but also has an impact on immoderate socio-religious behavior. Khaled M. Abou el-Fadl described this phenomenon as a consequence of human representation of Islamic authority. In terms of representation by authoritative humans, humans are often treated authoritatively and out of the substance of Islamic authority itself. This authoritarian attitude in treating the authoritative foundation of Islam is what Khaled calls authoritarianism. It can reside in humans and manipulate meanings into interpretations which often only serve the interests of some people. Through the deconstruction method, authoritarianism does not only appear as an arbitrary attitude towards authority, but also shows a conceptual network that indirectly shifts the construction of authority itself. Khaled, besides showing an attitude of "overcoming" authority, also shows the loss of the element of morality from the authority structure itself. So that the phenomenon of authoritarianism is not only a problem of intellectuality, but also morality, between humans and authorities in discourse space.

TINJAUAN DEKONSTRUKTIF ATAS KONSEP OTORITAS KHALED M. ABOU EL-FADL

This article discusses a deconstructive review of the concept of authority of Khaled M. Abou el-Fadl. The phenomenon of authoritarianism is now the most troubling phenomenon for the development of contemporary Islamic thought. This phenomenon not only describes a rigid and undeveloped tradition of Islamic thought, but also has an impact on immoderate socio-religious behavior. Khaled M. Abou el-Fadl described this phenomenon as a consequence of human representation of Islamic authority. In terms of representation by authoritative humans, humans are often treated authoritatively and out of the substance of Islamic authority itself. This authoritarian attitude in treating the authoritative foundation of Islam is what Khaled calls authoritarianism. It can reside in humans and manipulate meanings into interpretations which often only serve the interests of some people. Through the deconstruction method, authoritarianism does not only appear as an arbitrary attitude towards authority, but also shows a conceptual network that indirectly shifts the construction of authority itself. Khaled, besides showing an attitude of "overcoming" authority, also shows the loss of the element of morality from the authority structure itself. So that the phenomenon of authoritarianism is not only a problem of intellectuality, but also morality, between humans and authorities in discourse space.

HERMENEUTIK-NEGOSIASI DALAM STUDI FATWA-FATWA KEAGAMAAN: ANALISIS KRITIK TERHADAP PEMIKIRAN KHALED M. ABOU EL FADL

Tulisan ini membahas tentang kontribusi Khaled M. Abou El Fadl dalam menggumuli teks (al-ta’amul ma’a al-nash) yang hasilnya berimplikasi terhadap hukum Islam. Kontribusi tersebut bermula dari kegelisahan akademiknya melihat fatwa-fatwa tentang misoginis yang dikeluarkan oleh lembaga resmi seperti Council for Scientific Research and Legal Opinion (CRLO) di Arab Saudi dan The Society for Adherence to the Sunnah (SAS) di Amerika. Fatwa-fatwa yang merendahkan perempuan tersebut dianggap mereka sebagai kehendak Tuhan yang tidak boleh diganggu gugat dan diperdebatkan. Khaled berpendapat bahwa fatwa-fatwa tersebut merupakan perbuatan kesewenang-wenangan (despotism) dan otoritarianisme dalam hukum Islam. Dengan menggunakan jenis penelitian pustaka dan analisis kualitatif, ada tiga hasil dalam tulisan ini. Pertama, wakil khusus harus mentaati lima prasyarat agar tidak terjadi kesewenang-wenangan dalam penafsiran dan terjerumus dalam otoritarianisme, yaitu kejujuran (honesty), kesungguhan (diligence), kemenyeluruhan (comprehensiveness), rasionalitas (reasonableness), dan pengendalian diri (self-restraint). Kedua, kompetensi Alquran dalam hal keautentisitasnya berbeda dengan hadis. Alquran adalah firman Tuhan yang terjaga keautentisitasnya. Sedangkan hadis, terdapat beberapa inkonsistensi yang perlu diperdebatkan dan beimplikasi pada pemikiran hukum Islam. Ketiga, ada tiga unsur yang berperan dalam menentukan sebuah makna dalam sebuah penafsiran, yaitu pengarang (author), teks (text) dan pembaca (reader). Tidak ada yang paling dominan di antara ketiganya. Hubungan ketiganya diberikan secara proporsional melalui proses negosiasi, interaksi dinamis dan partisipatif dalam menciptakan sebuah makna.

Democracy from the Point of View of Islamic Political Ethics: Khaled Abou El Fadl’s Doctrine

This paper focuses on the analysis of the Islamic thinker Kh. A. ElFadl’s political and legal conception. This conception assesses the potential of the Islamic tradition for the legitimization of democracy. We indicates that El-Fadl’s concept is not another ‘Islamic democracy’ project, but an analysis of the relationship between democratic ethos and Islamic political values. It is demonstrated that an adequate understanding of this relationship requires a comprehension of Qur’anic anthropology — the idea of human call, in particular. The logical transition from acceptance of God’s sovereignty and the status of man as His earthly governor (a successive authority’) to the inadmissibility of usurpation of power is considered reasonable. The article proves that El-Fadl allows historical variability of the forms of checks and balances that impede usurpation of power. Therefore, he emphasizes precisely the democratic ethos, and not a particular political theory or a specific political regime. The irregularity of the monopolization of a democratic ethos by the Western culture, on the one hand, and the monopolization of Shari‘a by Islamists, on the other, is thoroughly noted. In the conclusion the author outlines a general understanding of the nature of Shari‘a and the Shari‘ah foundations of political practice in the concept of El-Fadl.

Relationality and the Gadamerian “Horizontverschmelzung”: Khaled Abou El Fadl

While the notion of philosophical hermeneutics and its impact on discourses of Islamic law and ethics have been a continuous feature of comparative and religious study in the recent past, this has tended to take the form of theoretical and largely textual hermeneutical readings. This article aims to examine the instances of the occurrence of one particular aspect of the philosophical hermeneutical canon, the Gadamerian notion of horizontverschmelzung, within the work of the contemporary Islamic legal thinker, Khaled Abou El Fadl. In doing so, the article focuses on the way in which the notion of horizontverschmelzung is used by Khaled Abou El Fadl both explicitly, in his textual work, and implicitly, in the performance of his broader methodological project. This dual dynamic is made apparent in his work that aims to engage with debates that are internal to the Muslim community, such as those over the process of the interpretation of the Shari'a, and those that involve the Muslim community's relationship with the West, such as those to do with representation and identity. This dynamic is a vital consideration for the further understanding of contemporary forms of philosophical hermeneutics in the islamicate context and the legal and social work of Khaled Abou El Fadl.

Contemporary Muslim Male Reformist Thought and Gender Equality Affirmative Interpretations of Islam

A number of recently published studies by reformist-minded Muslim scholars have both questioned the normative nature of and emphasized the need to rethink some of the fundamental assumptions and interpretational models governing traditional Islamic legal theories and ethics. As part of this process they have emphasized the need to develop novel Islamic hermeneutics. One major element in this emergence of novel Islamic hermeneutics is the production of an increased number of what I term ‘gender equality affirmative scholarship on Islam’. What is particularly interesting, if not intriguing, from the perspective of the author of this article is that the scholarship on gender equality affirmative interpretations of Islam is theorized by reformist-minded Muslim male scholars at historically unprecedented levels which is what this study seeks to highlight. This article examines the arguments employed by three prominent contemporary Muslim male reformist scholars, both Shī ’ī and Sunnī, in developing gender equality affirmative interpretations of Islam – Nasr Abu Zayd, Mohsen Kadivar, and Khaled Abou El Fadl. The focus on male scholars in this article is intentional and seeks to highlight the most fundamental point and indeed the raison d’être behind it, namely to underscore the historically unprecedented support Muslim male scholars are providing to the development of feminist interpretations of Islam.

HERMENEUTIKA KHALED M. ABOU EL FADL TENTANG KONSEP OTORITARIANISME DALAM HUKUM ISLAM

Khaled M. Abou el-Fadl is one of the contemporary Islamic thinkers who offers a model of reading religious texts which he considers authoritative. The phenomenon of authoritarianism or self-determination in the name of religion and God in Islamic thought, according to Khaled M. Abou el-Fadl, happens a lot as evidenced in his research which focuses on the study of Islamic law that has been carried out by Wahabi puritans in the CRLO fatwa institutions that provide many fatwas which is considered to be very gender biased. Khaled M. Abou el-Fadl offers authoritative hermeneutics as a criticism as well as a methodological tool for dissecting and interpreting Islamic texts, specifically in the realm of Islamic law, namely by paying attention to three things, First, relating to competence (authenticity test); second, related to accuracy; third, with regard to representation in Islam

MAHAR PERKAWINAN DENGAN HAFALAN AL-QUR’AN: ANALISIS HERMENEUTIKA HADIS KHALED M. ABOU EL-FADL

The purpose of this study is to analyse the hadith about dowry in marriage. In this hadith, it is mentioned that one form of dowry is memorisation of the verses of the Qur'an, but that is said most recently after there is no more iron ring. An exciting phenomenon today is that the memorisation of the verses of the Koran is used for dowry marriages because it is a place for prestige, to make it look unique and different from the general public. This article will review more deeply the meaning of hadith related to marriage dowry from the perspective of hermeneutics Khaled M. Abou El-Fadl. Besides, this paper will explain the understanding of Muslims today about the traditions of marriage dowry with the memorisation of verses of the Qur'an. This research uses the hermeneutic method of hadith Khaled M. Abou El-Fadl. The findings of this study indicate that today Muslims understand the hadith related to memorising the Qur'an as a marriage dowry through a long process of negotiation and dialectics to influence their behaviour. The talk question is the occurrence of a dialogue between the surrounding culture, with the text of the hadith itself.

CONTEMPORARY ISLAMIC JURISPRUDENCE THOUGH IN THE WORK OF KHALED ABOU EL FADL

With a qualitative approach, this research raises Khaled Abou El Fadl's thoughts on contemporary Islamic law discourse by analyzing one of his main works, namely Speaking in God's Name: Islamic Law, Authority, and Women. This paper will be focused on two important questions. First, how is the history of Khaled Abou El Fadl's life? Second, how is Khaled Abou El Fadl’s thought style in the tradition of contemporary jurisprudence? Based on those two questions, this research finally produces that; First, Abou El Fadl grew out of the dialectic of Islamic thought in the Middle East which has grown since the 1970s. His thought was actually a reaction to the rise of Salafi discourses, especially in Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The idea of Abou El Fadl is seen as a moderate wing representation in Salafi thought. Second, Atas Nama Tuhan, Khaled Aboul El Fadl's work is an experiment of his criticism of Salafism ideology which argues that Islamic reformism is also responsible for creating a creed closed, intolerant, and superficial in understanding the sacred texts of Islam should be taken seriously. His thought provides a discourse on Islamic law by combining classical Islamic thought with modern hermeneuticdiscourse.

Hermeneutika Negosiatif Khaled Abou El Fadl: Menangkal Otoritarianisme Tafsir Agama dalam Hukum Islam

In this era of disruption, many people spend their activities in cyberspace, including in terms of studying the religious doctrines. However, not a few of them are trapped in the textualist religious doctrine, so the application of religious values that are rahmatan lil ‘alamin is not actualized properly. Seeing this phenomenon, Abou El Fadl considered that in this modern era the interpretation of Islamic legal sources, both the Qur'an and Hadith textually, would not be able to carry humanist religious messages. Therefore, a hermeneutic method is needed as a tool in revealing the meaning behind the sound of the sacred texts in religion. Keywords: Hermeneutic, Aboe El Fadl, and Islamic Law

Khaled Aboe el-Fadl: Against Authoritarianism Teachers Talk to God

A similar Qur’anic text with Allah Almighty as its creator is often interpreted differently among Muslims. In the process of interpretation of religious texts, the three elements, i.e., reader, text, and author are interrelated. Separating the three of them can give rise to otriarianism in interpreting the meaning of the text, which is considered an act of arbitrariness so that it is not uncommon for someone to assume the most correct interpretation. To avoid this attitude, according to Khaled Abou El Fadl, a negotiating process should be built between the three so that each does not dominate in the process of determining the meaning of the text. This paper is intended to describe the best relationship between the reader, the text and the word of Allah in the theory of the negotiation of Khaled Abou El Fadl.